About Me

My name is Andy Thomas. I am a "professional" amateur photographer. I live in Wichita, Kansas. I am married to a wonderful wife and have two great kids. Right now photography is a hobby of mine. I started taking photos in High School. I kept a disposable camera in my car just in case I came across something that was picture worthy. I started seeing some work from a fellow friend and photographer Craig Hacker. He shot photos of firefighters working on actual fire scenes and I thought his work was amazing.

Growing up my father was a firefighter so naturally I was drawn to this subject matter. I started listening to the scanner and showing up on fire scenes to snap some shots from way behind the scenes. I became addicted. In college (Kansas State University) I enjoyed getting out in the flint hills to shoot, and really developed my landscape photography. I also asked the Manhattan Fire Department to be their Fire Dept Photographer. They said yes and I did that for 2 years. Upon graduating and moving home I was able to become a Wichita Fire Dept. Photographer along side my mentor Craig Hacker in 2006.

I am slowly getting better at shooting portraits and group photos, and hope to get better with time. Please check out my galleries of photos to get a sense of what its like to be a firefighter. After all, one of my main goals when shooting a fire is to show the public what the brave men and women do when called.